Avatar The Trials of Dante book one, fire
by jebilgutay
Summary: It's been ninety years since the defeat of Kuvira, and Avatar Korra's time has ended. Follow the stories of he reincarnation, a young Earthbender named Dante. This is the story of him coming to terms with discovering he is the avatar, and the struggles he will face as a result. Will Dante rise to the challenge, or will he crack under the pressure. Any reviews will be appreciated.
1. Chapter 1

"**Fire, air, water, earth. When I was a kid, my dad would tell me and my brothers the stories of avatar Korra. We all loved to hear those tails, but none more so then me. I knew that avatar Korra had died around the time I was born, so I knew that I would never meet her, but that also meant that the new avatar would be around my age. How I hoped against hope that I would get to meet that person one day, but never did I imagine that that person was going to be me.**

**The Trials of Dante; book 1, Fire.**

**Chapter 1; A life changed.**

The sun rose over a United Republic suburb. This small town was several miles from the capital, but still close enough that at night, you could see the faint glow of the Central Spirit Portal. The morning light shun through the window of a young man's room, steering him awake. This was Dante. He was a newly turned 16 Earthbender. He had messy brawn hair and tan complexion. Maybe it had something to do with being the youngest, but Dante had always been scrawny for his age. He sat up, straightened his hair as best he could, and climbed down from his top bunk. Dante was the youngest of four brothers. In chronological order, they were Lajos, Shen, and Ta.

Growing up, the four had shared the same room, and slept in two bunk beds. However, those three had grow and were out of the house. Lajos, as the athlete, was now captain of his own pro bending team; THE GORILLA-GOATS. Shen, the smart one was attending the United-Republic institute of Technology, the most prestigious school in the nation. Finally, Tad was actually making a name for himself as an actor in movers, having stared in several successful films. Now that those three were out of the house, Dante had the whole room to himself, and he loved it. However, tonight it would be like when he and his brothers were kids.

Today was Dante's graduation, as well as his birthday, and all three of his brothers were coming to see the ceremony, and they were all staying in their old room. Dante got out of bed, and after a quick shower, joined his parents for breakfast.

"Good morning, Dante." His mother Hui said.

"Exited to have your brothers back home?" His father Chan asked.

"Of course." Dante replied. As he took a bite of bread, something interesting popped into his head.

"I just remembered, I had an interesting dream last night."

"What was it about?" His mom asked.

"Well, all I really remember was seeing an old woman. She had long white hair, and she wore a Water Tribe getup. I remember her saying that she had great confidence in me, and that I was going to do great things in my own way. I asking for her name, but all she said was 'you will know soon.' Then I woke up." To Dante's surprise, both his parents looked uneasy, but before he could ask, the doorbell rang.

"Ah, there here." Chan said. The whole family went to the front door, and opened it. They were greater by Dante's three older brothers.

Lajos was the fittest of the trio. Not only was he very muscular, but his muscles were also well toned, leaving no visible body fat at all. He had very chiseled features. He had a pointed chin, and a buzz-cut.

Shen, on the other hand was scrawny and gangly. Unlike Lajon, Shen had more of his mothers rounded facial features, in fact many had said that he looked like a male version of his mother. He was also scribbling something in a note book, hardly acknowledging the others.

Ta, was a mix between the two. He was also the most handsome of the four (not that the others weren't unattractive) After they all said their hellos, they all sat around the table for breakfast.

"So, how are things for you guys?" Dante asked. Lajon was the first to answer.

"My team has been doing great, were moving on to the quarterfinals. I don't want to jinx anything, but this might be our year."

"And how are things going with Geet?" Geet was the Airbender of Lajon's team, as well as his boyfriend.

"How about you Shen?" Hui asked. Shen (who had every piece of his breakfast of separate plates with a different pair of chopsticks for each) put his rice- chopsticks down and said.

"My professors are highly impressed with my studies on spirits. They say at this rate I will have earned my degree by the end of next year."

"How about you Ta?" Dante asked, desperately trying to change the topic.

"I got the role in an action film, but between us, I've read the script and just between us, it's going to awful, don't see it.".The rest of the day was far more enjoyable. The four brothers agreed to spent the day together to celebrate Dante's birthday/ graduation, and did all there favorite things; they got noodles, went for a walk in the spirit wilds, and even went to see one of Ta's movies.

"You're performance was great." Dante said as they left the theater.

"Thanks." Ta said said with a smile

"Well, it's still a few hours before we have to prepare for the graduation." Lajon said, looking at his cell phone. "What do you want to do?" Dante was quiet for a moment then said with a smile.

"Well, I'd hate be guilty of sounding immature, but I feel like having one of our brotherly brawls."

In no time, the four made there way to a flat earthy field on the outskirts of the city. Here, they could Earthbend without damaging anything. The boys had made a makeshift arena in the dirt for them to spar in, and on one side was Lajon and Shen, and on the other was Ta and Dante. Shen was lousy at bending, and Ta was about average so the teams were about even (all things considered.)

"Are you sure about this Dante? You know you've never been able to beat us in a fight." Lajon said as he stretched.

"I know, but that never stopped me from trying. And who knows, this might be my lucky day."

"Alright." Lajon said with a smile. "On three. One, two, **three!**" and the battle began. The four brothers sent rocks flying like mad. Lajon, showed off his natural talent and launched rock after rock at his brothers. Shen, on the other hand, was more of a natural disaster, and was doing all he could just to keep from getting hit. Ta was doing an okay job, and even managed to land a few blows on Lajon. Dante, on the other hand, was doing better then he had in any of his previous sparing with his brothers, and In less then two minutes managed knocked Shen out of the ring.

"Nice shot, Dan!" Ta said, blocking Lajon's attacks. The two were on fire. Dante was on the offensive, hurling rock after rock at Lajon. Ta, in turn, was being defensive. blocking as many of Lajon's attacks as he could. It seemed the two had there eldest brother at the end of his rope, but Lajon hag gained his second wind. As Dante threw a rock, the second it crossed the divider, Lajon seized control and sent it hurling back, taking Ta by surprise and knocked him out of the ring.

"Well Dan, looks like it's just you and me." Lajon said with a smile. Now that the fight was one on one, the difference is skill was apparent. Lajon was bending rocks with such speed and force that Dante could barley hold them all. Soon he was forced to the edge of the ring, struggling just to keep from getting knocked out.

_I've been losing to these guys for sixteen years._ Dante thought to himself. _I'm not going to lose again. _He tightened his stance, and as Lajon fired another rock, Dante imitated his brother with a catch and return. Finding a new resolve, Dante went on the offensive. Even Lajon was surprised by this sudden surge of power, and was pushed to the edge of the ring. The two raised two boulders, and launched them at the same time. Both projectiles made contact with their targets, and simultaneously knocking both men out of the ring.

"We have a tie!" Ta said. Dante and Lajon dusted themselves off.

"We should be heading home. Dante, you need to get ready for tonight." Ta said. As the brothers got ready to leave, Ta whispered to Lajon, "It was nice of you to throw the fight."

"I didn't, that tie was legit." Lajon said.

Back home Dante was preparing for his graduation ceremony. He changed into his green formal robes and got his mortarboard. As he stepped out into the hall way, he was greater by the whole family .

"Oh, look at my little man. Hui said, embracing Dante in a hug. Chan walked over next, and patted his youngest son of the shoulder.

"You're a man now little brother." Lajon said, hugging his brother. Ta did the same, but Shen, who was back to scribbling in his notes, simply nodded in acknowledgment. Dante the felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and his parents threw there arms around him.

"I knew this day would come," His mom said with tears in her eye. "but it came too soon." Dante thought that this was a little much. He knew his folks would get all emotional about him graduating, but this was overboard.

"What's with you two?" Dante asked.

"Were just proud of you." Chan said, but Dante could tell there was more at play here.

"You two are creeping me out. Let's just get in the car and go."

Soon the six of them were in the car, and off to the sight of the graduation ceremony; the central spirit portal. The whole area had been rented out for the event. Several bleachers were set up for the families and loved ones, while over a hundred chairs were set up facing the portal. A podium had been set up at the bace of the portal. The principle walked up to the podium, and began his speech.

"Welcome all, and congratulations." And he was off, giving a speech about when they arrived as freshmen, and their four year journey, and all that had happened during that time.

After a while, Dante had just turned it out and started looking around. He watch the numerous spirits flying every-which-way. He saw his family watching him from the bleachers, they waved to him happily and he waved back. Before long, the time came to present the graduates with there diplomas. as Dante walked up to receive his, he didn't take his eyes off of the white Lotus. After receiving his diploma, h returned and was about to head back to his seat when,

"Hold on, Dante." He turned back to the principle. "I was told to keep you on the podium, no specifics though. Dante was curious as to why he was singled out, but went along with the principles wish and stood off to the side. Soon everyone had there diploma. One they all had returned to their seats (minus Dante) The principle walked up to the podium and said.

"Now, before our celebration concludes, I would like to pass your attention to mr Kaze of the Order of the White Lotus, Who wishes to make an announcement." As he spoke, an elder man wearing a White Lotus outfit stepped onto the podium and took the microphone. Dante watched this awestruck, and then he saw other White Lotus members standing up from the crown, taking off their strew cloths to revile their uniforms underneath. Dante was gawking at all of this. The White Louts was at his graduation, and that could mean only one thing.

"Greetings graduates of Republic City High, and congratulation. We have come here today to announce the identity of the next avatar." As expected, everyone started murmuring. Dante, on the other hand, felt his hear fall into his stomach. He had a feeling he knew why the principle had kept him on the podium. As soon as everyone quieted down, Kaze said, "It is our honor to serve you," and he turned sharply around. "Avatar Dante."

**TO BE CONTINUED**

**I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of my new fanfiction. One thing you might find interesting, Dante is the first avatar we've seen, or at least know about to have siblings. As you might have guessed, I named my Avatar after Dante Basco, the voice of Zuko in Last Airbender, and general Iroh in Korra. I almost didn't include the battle of the brothers, partly because I've never written a descriptive bending battle before, but also because I wanted to focus more on character development rather then action. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Dante "Fire, air, water, earth. The Avatar is the only person who can master all four elements and keep the world in balance, and I am the Avatar."**

THE TRILES OF DANTE; BOOK 1, FIRE

**CHAPTER 2, THE JOURNY BEGINS**

"Dante…Dante wake up." A slap to the face, and Dante bolted up right. He was on the couch in his living room, and he was surrounded by his parents and his brothers.

"Dante, are you alright?" Chan said, putting a comforting hand on his son's shoulder.

"Oh, I had a crazy dream. I was at my graduation, and some guy said that I was the new avatar." Dante said, rubbing his temples.

"That, wasn't a dream." came a new voice. "that was a half hour ago." Dante looked to the right, and saw Kaze, the White Lotus member said. Dante hadn't even noticed him

"Ugh…" Dante stammered. "Th…this is quite a statement. What proof do you have?

"We thought you would say that." Hui. She was holding video disk, and popped it in the player. Dante saw that it was a home movie of him as a kid, maybe three. It was him at Avatar Korra park, just running around and having fun. Just then, a man who was walking his llama-ox

lost control of his pet when a raccoon-squirrel darted out of the trees. The large animal charged at Dante, who was in the way, but as his father; who was holding the camera ran to save him, something incredible happened. Dante suddenly made a series on circular motions with his arms, and an intense air current threw the charging animal back. The camera halted, and Dante turned around, his eyes were glowing. The video then turned black. For a while, everyone was silent, then Dante said in a raspy voice,

"Who else knew about this?"

"Just me, your mother, and the White Lotus." Chan said. "As for the llama-ox owner, he was payed to keep quiet."

"Young man," Kaze said resting his hand on Dante's shoulder. "I know this is a lot to take in all at once, but I assure you we will do all we can to help you through this shock, and help you come to terms with being the avatar" As Dante looked at Kaze , he couldn't help but feel something familiar, like they had met somewhere before.

"I"ll leave you to sort things out with your family. Tomorrow, your will set off on your journey to the Fire Nation."

"My what to the where?" Dante said, baffled.

"Of course." Kaze said as if this were obvious. "as the avatar, you will travel the world to master the other elements. In fact, the white Louts has requested me to be your fire bending teacher." Dante opened his mouth to reply, but Kaze said. "All your questions will be answered at tomorrows debriefing. Until then, good night." and he left.

The rest of the night was awkward. Instead of trying to comfort him everyone was trying to avoid talking to Dante; maybe they thought he wanted to be left alone. Perhaps they were right, because he went to bed before anyone else. He laid of his bed on the top buck for hours, wide awake. Around midnight, when all the other were asleep, Dante though to try something. He sat up, crossed his legs, rested his hands on his lap, and closed his eyes. He had never meditated before, but though if he was the avatar, he should at least try. It took some effort, but Dante managed to clear his mind.

"Hello again, Dante." Came the voice of an elderly woman. Dante opened his eyes, and found himself in a thick forest. There were strange trees growing all over, and bizarre plants Dante had never seen before. Standing in the middle of all this was the strange old woman that Dante had seen in his dream the night before, but she was no stranger now.

"Hello, Korra." Dante said awkwardly. Korra smiled and put her hand on his shoulder.

"You've had a rough day, haven't you." Dante nodded. "I'm lucky, I knew I was the avatar ever since I was a little girl, so there was no shock."

"Tell me about it." Dante said, sitting down on a log, Korra joined him at his side. "I've loved hearing the stories about your adventures ever since I was a kid. I always wanted to meet the next Avatar, but I never wanted to _be_ the Avatar, I don't think anyone _wants _to be the Avatar. It's like an earthquake; a huge shock that changes your world forever."

"You make some good points." Korra said, sounding impressed. "How about I offer your some words of comfort." Dante looked at her. "For most of my life I didn't have any of the Avatars before me to ask for advice or comfort. I needed to figure things out on my own, but, I'm happy to say that you wont have that problem. I'll be here if you ever need any avatar wisdom or advice." Korra smiled which Dante returned.

"I'm glad to hear that." Dante said. He got up from the log and bowed to Korra. "Thank you for your time."

"You're welcome," Korra said. "Before you go, there is one thing I think you would like to know."

"What?" Dante replied.

"That man, Kaze. He's the son of my best friend Mako. That's why he seemed familiar, because I knew him; I even baby-sat him a few times." Dante smiled at this. "I

'l'l be sure to give him a hug for you next time I see him.

"One last thing, Dante. I have a feeling your going to be a great Avatar." The next thing he knew, Dante woke up. It was still night out, but Dante soon fell asleep. Around 9 the next morning Kaze arrived; he was carrying a three-ringed binder .

"Good morning Dante." Kaze said.

"Good morning." Dante replied. "This is from Korra." and he gave Kaze a hug.

"Thanks." Kaze said awkwardly. "Now, down to busyness." He said down at the table, Dante joined him.

"Before you begin your avatar journey, there are a few things you need to be briefed on. First, as the Avatar, you are entitled to an animal guide," Kaze put the binder on the table. "Look through this and pick anything that catches your eye and we'll take you to select your pick from the litter." Dante opened the binder, and found it full of pictures of animals. He saw shirshu's, gorilla-goats, badger-moles, and several other types of mega-fauna, but nothing caught his eye. Then.

"That." He pointed to a picture of an Eel-hound. Kaze replied with a pained 'Oh'

"What?" Dante replied.

"Those are notoriously hard to train." Kaze replied. "I would pick something else if I were you."

"If Korra could train a polar bear-dog, I think I can train an eel-hound." Dante said.

"If you say so." Kaze said as he took the binder. "second, as I said last night you will be traveling the world to master the other elements.

"About that. Why cant I just learn them here. I mean there are bending schools in the city."

"It wouldn't be the same. They couldn't unlock your full potential. Besides, traveling will do more then teach you the elements, it will help you grow as a person."

"So, when do I leave?" Dante asked.

"Immediately. As soon as you say your fairways to your family, we will go get your animal and ship off.

"That soon, but I haven't even packed yet!" Dante said.

"You wont need to. As the avatar, you will no longer need worldly possessions." Kaze replied.

"Somehow I find that hard to believe." Dante replied

"Let me rephrase that." Kaze replied. "From here on, the White Lotus will provide you with everything you will need; room and board, cloths, daily necessities, you name it."

Before long, Dante was on the front lawn, his parents and brothers saying goodbye.

"Hard to believe." Lajos said. "My littlest bro is the avatar." He threw his arms around him in a tight hug, but the others weren't going to let Lajon hog Dante all to himself.

"This opens so many possibilities for my research." Shen said, a looking with a rather unpleasant grin. "Studying you could help us better understand the mechanics of spirits possessing humans."

"What do I look like, a lab spider-rat." Dante replied, but still gave him a hug, that Shen returned; albeit awkwardly. Then it was Tad's turn.

"It's kind of funny if your think about it." He said as he shook Dante's hand.

"How is this funny?" Dante replied

"The rest of us have something big going for us. Athlete," he pointed to Lajon. "genius" to Shen. "actor" to himself. "and now your the avatar. The youngest of the littler is going to soar higher then the others." Dante gave an awkward smile. After one more round of hugs, Dante stepped into Kaze's car, and they drove off.

Before heading to the air port, they drove to the local animal shelter, and minutes later, Dante left with an eel-hound in a cage.

"Have you thought of a name for him yet." Kaze asked.

"I'm thinking of calling _her_ Koah."

"That's a pretty name." Kaze replied.

An hour later, Dante was laying on the bed of his cabin on a luxury air-ship bound to the Fire Nation. For a while Dante had been looking out the window, but then he heard the sound of scratching on metal. Koah was scratching at her cage and wining to be let out. Dante opened the door, and Koah bolted out. Without warning she ran up and began biting Dante's shoe.

"Ow! What the?" Dante shouted. He tried to pull her off him, but she nipped as soon as his hands got close to her. Koah then let go of and began tearing around the room, knocking over everything in her path.

"Koah, stop!" Dante shouted, but the eel-hound pup wasn't listening. This continued for some time, then Kaze (who had come in without Dante noticing) picked up Koah as easy as if she were a tamed cat.

"I told you eel-hounds are a handful."

"That thing is a monster." Dante said, glaring daggers at the pup. "As soon as we land I'm getting ride of her!"

"Now, now, i'm sure you'll both warm up to each other. The two of you just need time to adjust." He put the pup down, who ran back to Dante and started attacking his shoe again. "A lot of time."

Things didn't improve as the trip went on. In less then an hour of being let out, the pup had bit, scratched, and peed on Dante. Eventually, Dante got fed up, and with great difficulty, threw Koah back into her cage.

Before long it was dark, and Dante thought to turn in early. However, as soon as he changed into his pajamas he saw a faint glow out of the window. Without a second though, he ran out of his room, and onto the roof of the air-ship. Not far off in the distance was a large island glowing with the lights of a huge city.

"That must be the Fire Nation capital." Dante said aloud.

"Beautiful, isn't it." a voice said behind Dante. He turned and saw Kaze overlooking island as well. "Welcome to your home for the next few months." He said resting his hand on Dante's shoulder.

Meanwhile, in a small shop in the slums of the fire nation capital, a small group of people were having a meeting around the glow of candlelight

"Your sure you heard right." One of the men said.

"I'm positive." A woman replied. "The Avatar left for the capital this morning. He's probably here by now." 

"In that case we'll need to put our plans on hold."

"We will do no such thing!" Came a sharp male voice in the corner. As he spoke, the flames from the candled exploded. Everyone stopped talking and turned to the speaker. He had a pointed chin, piercing yellow eyes, and and intimidating face. He had his hair in a tight top-knot, and his very presence intimidated everyone in the room.

"Ive waited far too long for this, and now that we've finished our research and preparations, I wont put my plans on hold because of some rookie avatar is in my back yard." The rest looked away in submission, like a child that had been scolded. "Still were going to need to be smart about how we go about this."

**TO BE CONTINUED**

**I hope you enjoyed the latest chapter. If you liked it, write a review or subscribe. I know I'm not the first person to pair up there avatar OC with an eel-hound, but I just think there cool animals and decided to jump on the band wagon. Just a little fun fact, the name "koah" was taken from my neighbors dog Koa. I'm pretty sure this is how Naga the polar-bear dog got her name from the creators, but I digress. Hope to see you next time.**


	3. Chapter 3

**(All asterisks [*] will be addressed on the last page. Thank you.)**

**Dante "Fire, air, water, earth. The Avatar is the only person who can master all four elements and keep the world in balance, and I am the Avatar." **

**THE TRILES OF DANTE; BOOK 1, FIRE**

**Chapter 3; Up in Smoke**

In no time, the blimp touched down onto the tarmac. Dante collected Koah, who was still locked up in her kennel, and made his way to the exit.

"Welcome to the Fire Nation Dante." Kaze said as he and Dante stepped out onto the tarmac. Almost immediately a car pulled up, and a White Lotus member stepped out and gave Kaze the keys. "Hop on in and I'll take you to where you will be staying."

Dante got in the side seat, Koah's kennel on his lap, and they were off.

"So, where will I be staying?" Dante asked.

"Well, since I will be your Firebending teacher, I pulled some strings and arranged for you to stay with me and my family."

"Are you sure? I don't want to be a burden."

"Don't worry. It will be fine. In fact, I'm hoping that you staying with me will help with a problem I'm having."

"What kind of problem?" Dante asked.

"All in good time. For now, enjoy the sights." Dante was in awe. The lights of the city were unlike anything he had ever seen. Nearly every building was covered in neon lights of every color. There was no denying that this city was enormous, but it was also incredibly cramped. Nearly every block was backed with stores, restaurants, apartments, hotels or some combination of two or more of the mentioned. After twenty minutes of driving, they left the main city and entered a more suburban area. They arrived at a two story home. It had a large court yard where Dante would most likely be doing his training, and a lovely garden surrounding it.

"Welcome to my home Dante." Kaze said as he and Dante got out of the car.

The inside was just as nice as the outside, The floor was polished hardwood, and they had very high-end furniture. Of course, Dante was too tired from all the traveling to really admire any of it. Kaze lead him to the guest room, and after chaining into his pajamas, Dante was asleep.

"Good morning, Dante." Kaze said the next morning. "After breakfast, we will get started on your Fire bending .

"Dad, who are you talking to?" Came a female voice.

"Our new house guest Ha'li,*(1) I though I told you." After Dante changed into the training outfit that Kaze gave him, a red Gi and joined went into the dining room.

Sat around the table were two woman. The first was a middle age, but still rather attractive,. She had her hair in a tight bun, and was wearing a fancy red cloak.

The second was far younger, around the same age as Dante. He attire was drastically different from her older companion. Her top only just covered her chest area, her entire belly was exposed, showing off a rather gaudy belly-button piercing. Her bottom (garment) was hardly and better, Dante had a feeling his belts could cover more skin then her shorts did. She wore a disturbing amount of make up and had several ear piercings.

She also had a bird resting on her shoulder. It was equal to a chicken-hog in sized, with a long, but broad black beak. It's tail feathers were blue, and were as as long as it's body. It's plumage was red around it's torsos it's wings were yellow in the middle, and shifted to green and finally blue the further you got to the tip.

"Dante," Kaze said. "meet my wife, Za Mai, and…" he paused for a moment, then said, in a rather pained tone "my daughter, Ha'li."

"It's very nice to meet you, Avatar Dante. Za Mai said as she stood up from the table and bowed. Ha'li, however just scoffed and kept eating.

"Hello," Said Ha'li's bird. "My name is Gaku." The bird's voice was high and squeaky.

"Umm, nice to meet you Gaku." Dante said, not sure how to respond to a talking animal. "What are you, exactly?"

"Awkk, I'm a Crow-Macaw." Gaku replied.

"She got that bird from a traveling merchant a few years ago." Kaze said. "Their said to be one of the smartest animals on the planet."

The meal was awkward to say the least, as breakfast with complete strangers usually is. Za Mai kept trying to offer Dante extra helping, and Ha'li seemed to be making an effort to ignore him. Gaku actually flew over to Dante and kept, literally, asking for scraps. Before long breakfast was over, and Kaze lead Dante to the back yard.

"It's Ha'li, isn't it?" Dante said abruptly.

"I'm sorry?" Kaze replied.

"You said that you were hoping I might be able to solve a problem your having, and that problem is your daughter's attitude."

"Yeah." Kaze replied flatly. She's going through a rebellious phase right now. I hop that seeing you learn discipline will inspire her to change. Well, lets get started." Kaze had lead Dante to the courtyard outback. They turned to face each other and Kaze took a few steps back.

"The key to fire bending is your drive. You've got to be resolute and determined. If you want to ignite the chi inside of you, you've go to have a fiery spirit to spark it."

"A fiery spirit. Got it." Dante replied.

"Good," Kaze took fighting stance, "now this move is fairly simple." Kaze stepped forward and threw a punch, and a burst of flames erupted from his fist. "Okay, now you try."

Dante took the same stance as Kaze, stepped forward and threw a punch. What happened next was just embarrassing. Instead of fire, a big, black cloud of smoke burst from Dante's fist with a ridiculous farting sound. The cloud was then caught by the breeze and blew into Dante's eyes and open mouth.

"Let try that again." Kaze said as Dante cleared the soot out of his eyes. He threw another punch, this time fueled by his frustration at his previous performance. However, Dante's next flame fist was no different then his first. A huge burst of smoke erupted from Dante's fist, which got caught in the breeze and blew back in Dante's face.

"I have to admit, I didn't expect this to happen so soon." Kaze said as Dante washed the soot off his face .

"Didn't expect what?" Dante asked as he dried off.

"The element that's most difficult for the avatar to master is the one most opposite to that individual avatar's personality. For avatar Korra it was Air bending and for avatar Aang it was Earth bending. It seems that your opposite is Fire bending.

"Well this is just great, I've barley started my Avatar journey, and I'm already off to a lousy start." Dante said, angrily throwing his towel on the ground.

"Maybe that's why you can't Fire bend." They turned and saw Ha'li, Gaku resting on her shoulder.

"You've got no interest in being the avatar. Ergo, no passion for learning Fire bending."

"No passion, no passion." Gaku squawked.

"'No passion,' I'll show you bird." And Dante threw another Flaming Fist, and just like the ones before, all he managed to produce was another cloud of smoke that blew right into his face.

"You know, you might want to try doing that with the wind." Ha'li said as Dante spat the soot out of his mouth.

a week went by and Dante had made no progress in his fire bending training. When Dante wasn't chocking on his 'smoking-fists' as Ha'li called them, he was forced to try and bond with Koah. He would try to walk her, but when she wasn't trying to bite Dante's feet, she was pulling at her leash and refused to even listen to Dante.

"Come on you stupid Eel-hound, knock it off." Dante said as Koah gnawed on his shoes. Dante then hear a chuckle behind him. He turned and saw a guy around his age laughing. He was about the same as as Dante. His hair was wrapped in a traditional top knot. He wore an open vest, showing off his chiseled abs.

"New pet?" He asked.

"Yeah." Dante replied.

"I could tell. Hi I'm Quan."

"Dante."

"Wait, 'Dante,' your the Avatar!" Quan said ecstatically.

"That's what people say, but I'm starting to doubt it." Dante said discouraged.

"What do you mean?" Guan asked.

"I've been trying to fire bend for a little more than a week, and all I've managed to do is get a bunch of smoke blown into my face. My teacher sys that fire is my natural opposite, which is why I'm having so much trouble. To top it all off, I'm dealing with an animal who's favorite chew toy is me."

"Sounds like nothings going your way." Guan said. "On the bright side, the fact that you _can _produce smoke means you have the potential to Fire bend_, _that's more then I have.

"Yeah." Dante replied exasperatedly.

"Well Dante, something is about to go your way. I was on my way to get some launch, I would be honored if you would join me, my treat." Dante looked at Quan suspiciously. Why would a stranger offer to by him food. But then, Dante reasoned, this was probably one of the perks of being the avatar, getting free stuff from the adoring fans.

The food was delicious, Quan knew the best seafood spot in the city. Even Koah settled down as she enjoyed her share of the meal. Spending time with Quan turned out not only to be fun, but surprisingly educational. Despite Quan not being a fire bender, he still knew a great deal about fire bending, and offered some useful pointers. After eating, Quan took Dante to a park for a field test.

"I don't know about this Quan." Dante said hesitantly.

"You'll do fine." Quan said. "Now, try and think of something that makes you feel exited and motivated. Something that gets your blood boiling.

"Okay." Dante closed his eyes and racked his brains. Something that got his blood boiling, it was harder then he thought. He had never been a very competitive person. He never joined any teams or entered any contests, so there was not much for him to get passionate about. Then he remembered his brothers: Ta, Shen, and Lajos. If he had ever been competitive, it was with them. They fought over a lot things when they were kids: TV time, the bathroom, food, everything. His heart burning with the spirit those three inspired in him, Dante took his stance; this time facing down wind, and threw a punch. This time, it didn't just spew a plumb of smoke. A small, but noticeable flame shot from Dante's fist. It shined briefly before going out. The flame may have been tiny, but Dante didn't care. This small victory was his first real step to becoming a fire bender.

"Not bad, keep practicing and I'm sure you'll get it eventually." Guan said.

"Thanks for everything." Dante said, then he looked at his watch. "Crud, look at the time! I've got to go."

"No problem." Guan said.

"We should hang out again." Dante said.

"Sounds good to me." Guan replied. After the two exchanged contact info, Dante took Koah and headed back to Kaze's house.

Guan turned around and headed off into the slums of the city, and found himself outside of a rundown warehouse. After giving a complex knock, the door opened. The building was illuminated by hundreds of candles. There were at least two dozen people inside, all wearing blue robes and lined up in two parallel line, both leading towards a make shift thrown; a chair on a pyramid of boxes. The Candles surrounding this thrown all burned with a eerie blue flame. The man atop that throne was a man wearing what appeared to be a blue replica of the Fire Lord's royal attire. A young woman wearing equally formal robes had her arms draped around him, and a look of pure content on her face.

"Your late Guan." The man said sternly.

"I apologize my lord, but I have interesting news."

"Go on then."

"I have met the avatar." Guan said.

"Anyone can _meet_ the avatar you fool. You'd better have something more worth while to report." The

"Of course. I spent time with him and learned some interesting things about him. I found out where he's staying, his mini-phone*(2) number, and the most interesting of all, fire bending seems to be his most difficult element."

"Are you certain." The formally dressed man said intrigued.

"He told me he's been at it for a week and has made no progress. Even after I spoke to him, he still is incapable of producing a significant flame.

"You helped the Avatar? You fool!" Shouted the leader, the flames of the candles around him exploding as a result. "Who told you it was a good idea to assist our enemy overcome his greatest learning hurdle."

"I'm sorry my lord. I didn't…" But he was interrupted.

"I don't want to hear any excuses! Now, normally I would be so furious I would incinerate you on the spot. But, you have become fare more valuable to me now. So, I'm going to forgive you, but in return, I want you to get into the Avatar's inner circle. Earn his trust, and report anything of value to me."

"Yes, my lord." Guan replied, and he took his seat in line.

"Now, on to business. Have we secured the tickets yet?" One of the people in the lineup held up three tickets.

"My team is ready to depart. We leave for Ba Sing Se tomorrow morning."

"Good, and you read the profiles I gave you on your targets?"

"Yes my lord, but we are confused. Why are you having us go after these people? They're not even Fire Nation citizens. What threat could they possibly pose?"

"I don't want a single member left, no matter how distant. Do you understand?"

"Of course." Replied the subordinate.

"Now, we will put my plan into action. Soon the Fire nation will be ours, and we will restore it to it's former glory, and no one, not even the avatar will be able to stop us." At this, the flames of every candle in the building exploded. Reaching as tall as a man, and flooding the room with heat and light. At this, everyone in the room stood, bowed, and shouted in unison.

"All hail Lord Azular!"

**TO BE CONTINUED**

**I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I also hope I wasn't to obvious about the antagonist or what he's planing, I was trying very hard to flush him out but not hit the nail too hard on the head. If I can be perfectly honest with you all, I am super nervous about writing this story. I feel pressured to follow the source material as best I can: the patterns, character traits, humor, etc. I feel if I don't follow the avatar formula to the letter, I'll be disrespecting the series and ruin this story. I don't know, maybe I'm over thinking this.**

*(1) The pronunciation is 'Ha lee'

*(2) Obviously the same thing as a cell phone.


	4. Chapter 4

**"Fire, air, water, earth. The Avatar is the only person who can master all four elements and keep the world in balance, and I am the Avatar."**

**THE TRILES OF DANTE; BOOK 1, FIRE**

Chapter 4; The Blue Flame

_"This is the Fire Nation Nightly News with Zivror" _Is was dusk and after a long day of unsuccessful fire bending training, Dante and Kaze's family (minus Ha'li) we watching the news.

_"Good evening." _The host Zivror said. The news started with the usual local affairs; government stuff, celebrity scandals and the like. It was when they got to international news that Dante got interested

"In international news, _a string of attacks in Ba Sing Se. In the pre-dawn hours several homes in the upper and middle rings of the city were broken into. A total of fifteen are confirmed dead, included a three day old girl. Surviving eyewitnesses reports have lead us to believe that these attacks were planed and the victims directly targeted. Survivor Yarah says._ "The scene then cut to a private interview with the eyewitness.

_"He had killed my husband and my kids and I was sure that he was going to kill me too. I cowered in the corner, sure that I was done for. but he said that he wasn't here for me and said that he wouldn't hurt me if I didn't attack."_ The scene then cut back to the footage of the crime scenes.

_"The police are still investigating any connection that the victims may have had in common, In addition, the assailants all left one of these at the scene of the crime."_****

The camera then showed a black piece of paper with the fire nation insignia on it, only instead of the usual black flame on a red background, the flame on this one was blue on a black background.

"_The exact significance is still unknown. "_

"What do you suppose the deal is with these attacks in Ba Sing Se?" Dante asked Kaze.

"Probably just some local gang violence. I'm sure the police will handle it." Kaze replied. "Right now I'm more worried about Ha'il, and when she's going to get home." Ha'li had left this morning without a word and hadn't returned or called since. It wasn't until well past midnight that Dante was woken up by the sounds of Ha'li and Gaku coming in. HE quietly opened his bedroom door, and in the glow of the moonlight, he saw them.

"That was a wild part.."Gaku began, but was soon muffled, Ha'li must have pinched his beak shut.

_"Quiet you stupid bird. You want to wake up the whole house?" _She whispered. As Dante listened, his attention was focused on Ha'li. For some reason she gave off a vibe of self-disgust.

A week passed, and Dante's training progressed with mixed results. On one hand, seemed to have gotten the basic martial arts of Fire bending down, on the other hand, his fire bending was missing the most important aspect; the actually fire. The closet thing he came to producing fire was a small ember, and that usually took every ounce of concentration and will power he had. Today the two were training in the park. Kaze thought a change of local would do Dante some good, but it didn't seem to be helping.

"Come on!" Dante muttered angrily to himself. He took a fighting stance, stepped forward, and threw a punch. At the same time an Air bender child was playing ball with his friends near by. As the ball came flying at the boy, he shot a burst of wind, just as Dante's failed Fire Fist belched a cloud of smoke. The wind blast blew the smoke back into Dante's face.

"Sorry mister." The kid said.

"It's okay, I'm use to it." Dante replied as he wiped the ash out of his eyes. After cleaning up, Dante was in a sour mood.

"I just don't get it!. I'm using the trick Guan told me, but my Fire bending isn't getting any better. If anything I'm getting worse."

"Your not getting worse Dante. Your stagnating." Dante looked at Kaze with a frown. "Sorry. You said that your friend Guan told you to focus on something that your passionate about?"

"Yeah." Dante replied.

"So what do you think about?"

"My brothers." Dante said. Kaze looked at him with a look that just screamed a sarcastic 'seriously.'

"Don't get me wrong, I think it's laudable that your look to your family for strength, but in your case it's not enough. It's just like Ha'li said, you will never master Fire bending until you find your passion for being the avatar." Dante let out a loud sigh and burring his face in his hands. Kaze patted him on the back. "I know that it's hard, but every avatar throughout history has gone through the same trial as you, and they all passed it: in there own way, in their own time. I promise you, one day you and fire bending will just…" he snapped his fingers. "click."

The news and the fear it inspired spread like a swarm of locust-mice. Days after the attacks in Be Sing Se, a series of similar incidents happened all over the islands. While the victims were all very different, the attacks were identical to the ones in Ba Sing Se, right down to the blue Fire Nation symbol that was left behind at each attack. The authorities ran every test possible on the symbols, but there were no finger prints or DNA samples, nothing. Because of these calling cards, the media coined the name _'the Blue Flame'_

"This is terrible." Dante said as he turned off the TV. "I'm the Avatar! Shouldn't I be doing something? Work with the authorities…" Kaze raised his hand silencing Dante.

"Two things Dante. First, the Avatar's duty is to keep peace and balance for the entire world, not to fight simple street thugs or in this case serial killers. Second and far more important, you are nowhere near ready to help in this case. You'll need a lot more training before you could take on something like this." Ha'li then walked into the living room and out the front door, not even acknowledging her father or Dante.

"But there is something you could do for me. I want you to follow her and if you see her and report anything dubious to me." Dante looked at Kaze incredulously.

You know, being my teachers spy/errand boy wasn't part of the Avatar job description." Dante said.

"Come on, It'll be good practice for when you actually go out in the field." Kaze said with a forced smile. Dante sighed heavily.

"Oh, alright. but only to pay you back for letting me stay here and eat for free."

Dante had no sooner stepped outside when he felt a pain shoot through his leg. He looked down and saw Koah gnawing on his shin. He picked her up and was going to put her inside when he noticed how far ahead Ha'li had gotten and chased after her: by the time he remember he had Koah under his arm it was too late to take her back. He followed Ha'li downtown, and found himself at a huge party. The music blared so loud that Koah whimpered and cowered in Dante's arms; he had managed to smuggle her inside. The people were all wearing black and red cloths, many of them had torn sleeves or skull decorations. A Lot of them also had piercings, necklaces and other forms of gaudy jewelry.

Dante couldn't help but feel out of place here, while Ha'li in contrast would blend in perfectly. If it weren't for Gaku sitting on her shoulder he probably would never have spotted her in the crowd. She was sitting in a booth with a group of girls who were wearing similar cloths and jewelry that she was. There was also a man sitting next to her who had her arms draped around he, and was being rather grabby.

The man she was with then stood up, picking her up by the arm, and lead her toward the back door. Dante followed, unaware that he was not the only one watching Ha'li and her 'friend'. Guan was in the club as well, and had been watching the man from a distance ever since her arrived. He took out his phone and sent a quick message. 'the target is out back'

"Come on babe, lets get out of here and go somewhere a little more private." The man said as hepulled Ha'li close.

"I don't know Yezoh." Ha'li said. Yezoh ignored her, and leaned in close for a kiss, but instead found his nose being bitten by Gaku.

"No! no!" Gaku said sharply.

"Get lost you pest! Yezoh shouted as he smack the bird. This did not sit well with Ha'li.

"Don't you hurt my pet you sea-slug" She tried to push him away, but his hold was to strong.

"Hey Jerk!" They both looked a saw Dante.

"Get lost looser. I'm busy." Yezoh snapped.

"You mess with her and you mess with me! Now let her go." Dante said, trying to sound braver than he felt. Yezoh released Ha'li and advanced on Dante. In response Dante dropped Koah and kicked a chunk of pavement at his opponent. Yezoh dodged it, and fired two flaming fists at Dante. The avatar raised a wall of earth for protection, then launched said wall at his adversary, knocking him off balance.

"There's more where that came from." Dante said sternly.

"Cooky punk. Who do you think you are?" Yezoh asked.

"The Avatar." Dante said dramatically. At this, Yezoh laughed.

"You must really think I'm stupid. Just because the Avatar is an Earth bender now, you think you can play the Avatar-card whenever you want." Dante frowned.

"Clearly I need to prove myself." Dante took a fighting stance, threw a punch. Once again, instead of fire a cloud of smoke erupted out of his fist, got caught in the breeze and was blown back into his face. Taking advantage of his opponents faux pas, Yezoh dislodged himself from the rubble, and performed a spinning kick maneuver which not only got him back on his feet but knocked Dante off of his. He stomped of Dante's chest.

"Avatar or not that was the worst excuse for Fire bending I've ever seen." He was about to deliver a fire blast to Dante's face, but before he could, Koah and ran up and sunk her teeth in Yezoh's leg. As he shouted and tried to get the Eel-hound pup of him, Dante lobed a rock at Yezoh chest, knocking him down.

"Had enough yet." Dante said as raising a boulder above Yezoh's head. Before his opponent could answer, a fire ball was launched from across the street. The ambush threw Dante's concentration, causing him to drop the rock. Thankfully Ha'li was able to knock it away with a fire blast of her own.

Dante and Ha'li looked and saw some one dressed in full cover. His face was masked, his hands were gloved, the only part of him that was visible were his eyes.

"Stay out of this avatar." He said. 'This doesn't involve you or the girl." He shot several fire balls at Yezoh, but Dante begrudgingly raised an earth wall to defend him.

"Yezoh," Ha'li said as she join Dante's side. "who is this guy and why is he after you?" The assailant leap over the stone wall, ready to launch another attack.

"No idea, but he's in trouble." He replied as He launched several fire blasts at the assailant.

"Fly Gaku! Go get help." Ha'li shouted

"Help! Help! Help!" Gaku shouted as he flew away.

"I don't know who you are or why your after this jerk, but your out numbered." Dante said to his new opponent.

_Not for long, _the attacker though.

It had been five minutes since Guan had sent the message, and he had not received a reply saying the mission was complete. As per his instructions, he went outside to provide back up, but was met by an unexpected sight. His companion was fighting not only the target, but also a young woman, and …Dante.

"Guan!" Dante said, as he spotted his friend. "Quick, get out of here and call the cops!" No one had taken this into account, but Guan being a quick thinker and had already determined the best course of action.

"No time!" He shouted as he jumped into the fray. The plan was simple, act like he was fighting the same opponent, while secretly trying to sabotage the target.

The fight was very fast paced and energized. When someone wasn't attacking, they were dodging. Dante lobbed boulders, Ha'li and Yezoh threw fire blasts, and Guan showed some impressive chi-blocking moves. The fight went on for several minutes until finally they were able to subdue the attacker, just in time for Gaku to return with assistance.

A half hour later the police arrived and after searching the assailant found a blue fire symbol in a plastic bag. As the cops dragged him away, he shouted at Dante, "You may have stopped me avatar, but you won't stop my master! The Blue Flame will burn forever!" After telling the police everything, Yezoh was put under their protection, but not before Ha'li pressed charges on his advances. Once the police were gone and everything had settled down, Ha'li turned to Dante.

"I didn't need your help."She said flatly.

"What?" Dante replied.

"I didn't need your help dealing with Yezoh. I could have handled him myself." Dante was going to snap back, but then he remembered how well Ha'li held her own in that fight.

"Your probably right." He replied. Ha'li then looked down at her feet, a humble expression on her face, and said,

"That said, thank you."

"You're welcome." Dante replied. He then turned to Guan. "You were no slouch either Guan." He said impressed. "I know this is a bit forward, but I would be honored if you two would become the first members of my team."

"You mean join Team Avatar?" Guan said amazed. "Sure." They both turned to Ha'li.

"I'll think about it." She said. Dante then noticed Koah around his feet, and was surprised that she was not biting him. He picked her up and said,

"You did good too Koah. You'll be a great animal guide; when your bigger and properly trained of course. " Koah responded by licking him. "I'll take that as a yes." Dante said with a smile.

When Dante and Ha'li returned to the house, and found Kaze waiting for them in the living room. After telling him about what happened he looked at Dante and said,

"Well Dante, It seems I was wrong, This situation might need your involvement after all."

At the same time, Guan had returned to the Blue Flames headquarters, and was currently on his knees explaining what had happened to lord Azular.

"I must admit, I have strongly mixed feeling about this turn of events." Azular said. On one hand, the mission was a failure and one of ours was taken prisoner. On the other hand, you have successfully infiltrated the avatar's inner circle." Lord Azular was quiet for a moment, then the young woman beside him said,

"Darling, if I may. The mission was not a total failure. We still know where the target is, and we already have people there to finish the job."

"Your right my darling Zasi." Azular said. "Alright Guan, your off the hook for now, but I want you to keep close tabs on the avatar, and report anything important to me." Guan nodded, but felt an unpleasant twinge in his gut.

**To be continued**

** Sorry it took me so long to post this. I had been working on a chapter of an original story so I had to put my fan fictions on hold: take my advice, work on one story at a time. I hope this story isn't getting to dark, but then, TLAB did tackle the genocide of an entire people. I realize that I hand-waved the fight near the end, but I didn't want it to go on to long. If anyone knows a sight for looking up proper martial arts names and forms that would very helpful. Hope for some positive feedback, see you next time.**


	5. official hiatus

To all my faithful readers. I am posting this to announce that I will be taking an indefinite hiatus on my fanfiction projects. I have recently signed up for a full schedule at school, and it looks like I won't be having a lot free time to write fanfictions. Furthermore. I have decided to (if I do find the time) pick up an old original project I've been fiddling with on and off for years. I am not retiring from fanfiction, but I didn't want to leave any of you in the dark. I'm positive you will read my work again, but until then, I have a lot to do.


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